The environmental group upped its spending to $36 million last year, with $15 million of that in the form of campaign activity. That's a 25 percent increase compared with its spending the past two election cycles.

LCV spent nearly $11 million in independent expenditures for Democratic candidates in 2012, tops among Democratic-aligned nonprofits. "There was a lot at stake last year on our issues, both on Capitol Hill and across the country," said LCV spokesman Jeff Gohringer.

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